


Take on the World

by magnet0



Category: The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV), The Vampire Diaries - L. J. Smith
Genre: AU, Elena be running, F/M, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:42:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26316640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnet0/pseuds/magnet0
Summary: A more modern retake on vampire diaries, I have roughly 2016 and onward in mind. With a mixture of what I liked from the books and what I liked from the show, then my own take on how I wished the series had gone.End game is Elena/Damon, a focus on friendships and healing, and how did these guys graduate?--He smiled, his eyes boring hers. And wow, did people normally notice eye color like this? His eyes were like jade, sparked with dark evergreen lightning, and yes, she blames Dickinson for what she was going to be writing in her diary later.
Relationships: Elena Gilbert/Damon Salvatore
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Take on the World

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first posted fic, and as much as I love my trash tv, I've decided to write for a change. I have too many ideas for Vampire Diaries, so here they are!  
> Also, some differences purely because of my own knowledge and what I prefer:  
> -Elena does track, cause I know some sports and cheerleading wasn't big when I went to highschool.  
> -Mystic Falls is always commented as being a small town, so i'm gonna write it that way.  
> -I like the confident, popular Elena from the books, but not the gaudy 1D-ness of it, so i'm trying to mix the show and book.  
> -I'm in love with commas...  
> -I have so much potential for Elena having Margaret as a sibling like the books versus Jeremy. Sorry, I can't get passed the weirdly buff and built "16 year old" in the show.  
> -Vampires are supposed to be able shapeshift (sort of) and have more mind abilities in the books, it may be incorporated. 
> 
> Otherwise, I don't have anyone editing this and I am currently in my senior plus year as a bioinformatics student, who does research and also works on the side, so the updates may be spaced out.  
> Enjoy!

_Dear Diary,_

_It’s been 6 months since the accident._

Elena tapped her pen point, struggling to find her words.

_Coach Donavan talked to me today. She asked if I was ready to get back to running for the team. I told her I’d think about it._

A shrill screech followed by pattering steps and giggles sounded from downstairs and Elena couldn’t help the tug of a smile.

_Margy and I went to go see Mom and Dad after I picked her up from the babysitters. We went and bought some fake flowers from the dollar store to lay. Margy went on about what she did that day, from hanging out with Miss Lucy and Natia to swearing that she counted to 40 today with no help whatsoever. She even bragged about writing down their names._

_I’ll have to be sure to remind Margy to bring one of her pictures next time, she’s been into sunflowers lately since Mr. Kolif next door planted some this last summer and insists that Dad would’ve wanted to plant some too._

_What else?_

_I guess there’s Bon. She wants to hang out this weekend, probably hang out with Care too or something. Care bought another swimsuit off that website and has been insisting we need to go to the beach again and that her tan isn’t to her satisfaction yet._

_Tomorrow’s Friday so I’ll text Bon later for concrete planning._

A huff and puff of breaths brought her attention to her doorway where a small 4 year old, with white-blonde hair tied in braids and flushed pink cheeks below very sky blue eyes, stood.

“Dinner time.” Margaret blurted before darting off again downstairs.

_Till tomorrow, or whenever I remember to write next. It’s dinner time, and I think I can smell Aunt Jenna’s burnt noodles from here._

_As Always,_

_Elena_

_\---_

As has been the routine since forever, Elena got up at 5, went for her 2 mile run, got ready for school, wished Aunt Jenna a good day, dropped a whining Margaret off at Miss Lucy’s with 80 bucks, and drove her Escape into the student parking at Mystic Falls Highschool.

As usual, she was a little early. She got her normal spot, two spots from the crooked Student Parking sign with a spray-painted curse word on the back. Stepping outside into the September heat, Elena smoothed down her pastel pink high waisted lace shorts and straightened out the white, short sleeved crop top, then checked her hair in the reflection of her car’s window and tightened the orange scrunchie that held straightened brunette hair. And as per the whole mundane routine, she waited for Caroline to show up in her little blue Toyota and for whatever tangent she was about to hear about her Mom and wishing for Bonnie’s arrival to change the topic.

That is what she expected at least. Instead, in front of the crooked sign drove up a shining red Porsche. Elena stared, snapped a quick photo before the driver saw and sent it to the group chat, _Not Really Mean Girls_ , captioned with a hasty couple of question marks.

She didn’t mean to stare, but honestly out of the 50 odd kids in her class, and couple hundred in her district, she couldn’t even imagine who brought a car like _that_ to school. Elena fidgeted with her watch after she slipped her phone back into her back pocket, clicking the indigo button absentmindedly, and caught her breath at how _pretty_ the driver was.

He wasn’t too tall, probably about a couple inches taller than her 5 foot 7 inches, with stocky shoulders enclosed in a fitted navy-blue t-shit. He was a tad pale, probably one of those boys who played more on his x-box or something versus being outdoors but was fit enough to be in sports. Maybe he played basketball? Or even football? He had intense eyebrows, a defined jawline, and Elena unabashedly waved and smiled as he reciprocated her stare.

Feeling bold, “Hey.” She started, something in her blood getting excited at this break of normality. Sure, it may just be for a moment, but she blesses the serotonin regardless.

He looked shocked, probably scared at having to meet someone new, but honestly when you roll up with a car like that, expect to be talked too. Oh lord, poor guy was going to have Mr. Tanner breathing down his neck with his car boner or something.

He cleared his throat, waved with that polite half smile that people give as you pass them in the hallway, and pointed towards the double entry doors.

“Yah, uh, office is just to the right inside if you want me to show you?” She tried again, curious as to his voice, this oh so mysterious stranger.

He nodded and she didn’t even notice that quiet blue Toyota rolling in as she went in step with the stranger.

“I’m Elena, by the way.” Third times the charm.

Three steps later, “Stefan. I’m uh, new. I’m sure you figured.” And not disappointed, she thought of descriptive words for her diary later. She was leaning towards disused, serious, and deep enough to hint at budding maturity.

“Where you from?”

He stared at her for a moment, not taking his eyes from her face before breaking the second too long silence. Weird. Most likely new kid jitters.

“Originally here. But I moved around a bit, but I was last up north towards Maine.”

“Army brat or something?”

He snorted, ducking his head for a moment and she got a short waft of whatever hair gel he used in that chestnut wavy hair of his.

“Something.” He sighed out.

Elena pointed out the twenty-something year old sign reading Office, then took out her phone.

“Here. Hey, you have Snapchat?” She wondered why she already felt so comfortable around this boy, but chalked it up to this occasional good mood she was in and decided to let her thudding heart decide her moves before her brain caught up with her anxiety.

He furrowed those intense eyebrows, “Snapchat?”

She let herself laugh, hoping she didn’t sound rude, “My goodness, okay caveman give me your phone.”

Nervously, he grabbed the large touchscreen from his front pocket and reluctantly handed it over. No passcode either, she chided internally. She downloaded the app quickly, not even asking, set up a quick account then scanned her own QR code.

“There.” She handed back the sleek android. “Snapchat is sort of in the name, you send pictures and chat with those or you can just message. And now, if you need anything, you can just text me. Got it? But try and use data if you use it here, school’s wifi blocks it.”

He looked stupefied, but nodded, even as he blinked again as she took a quick photo of him and sent it to her newly accepted friend request.

Stefan tapped her name and snorted again at his phone. “Thanks, Elena.” He smiled, his eyes boring hers. And wow, did people normally notice eye color like this? His eyes were like jade, sparked with dark evergreen lightning, and yes, she blames Dickinson for what she was going to be writing in her diary later.

Just like that, she figured as he went inside the office, she knew this year was going to better (at least different). Pondering down at the phone in her hands, she changed Stefan’s nickname to Pretty Cave Man with the looking eyes emoji and went to her first hour class.

\--

Elena Gilbert had known Bonnie Bennett since diapers, their parents were close friends after all. As Elena glanced at the dark-maroon acrylics on her friend’s hands, she casually thought about what kind of book to get for her best friend for her birthday. Maybe something about rising signs and astrology? The girl has been on a witch-vibe kick for the past year or so, especially since her dad took a job that required him to travel.

At the lunch table with Bonnie and Elena was the unlikely party member, Caroline Forbes. In small towns, you sort of know everyone since the time you can talk. In Elena’s history though, mostly throughout middle school, she used to think Care was a total bitch. The two for some reason just didn’t like each other. It wasn’t until Care was friends with Bonnie and ergo started hanging with Elena too that she got to know the curly blonde control freak. By “control freak,” she thought of that nickname with the utmost fondness. Who else would be perfectly suitable to being the head of the student council, the National Honor Society, the quiz bowl team, and the captain of the Mystic Falls Volleyball team?

“-psychic now.” Elena blinked for a moment, catching the tail end conversation between Bonnie and Caroline. 

“You’re what now?” Elena blurted, cheek squished lazily atop her propped hand, having already ate half her packed lunch. Considering how nauseous her antidepressants were making her, she considered it a win. Mascara covered lashes and light grey eyeshadow flaring against warm almond skin turned their attention to her as Bonnie grinned wolfishly.

Bonnie tilted up her chin and leaned forward, her two french braids tickling her shoulders, “I’m psychic.”

“Okay, then predict something.” Elena challenged, a bored grin crawling onto her face.

“Well, I already predicted Obama,” Caroline snorted (and mumbled that _everyone_ predicted Obama), “hush, and I predicted Heath Ledger. Plus, I still think Florida will break off into little resort islands…” Her gaze got caught towards something behind Elena, “And that spooky nursery rhyme omens become tangible with the arrival of Elena’s hot cave man.”

Confused, Elena turned around to face the large windows facing the courtyard. A large crow was perched atop a vacant metal picnic table, its glossy feathers shimmering like oil in all its rainbow glory, and it’s one visible eye was staring unnervingly towards the trio of girls.

“What did one crow mean again?” Elena inquired as Bonnie was typing into her phone, but not before Caroline beat her.

“Wiki says, wow, okay maybe you should stay away from Stefan.” The curly blonde giggled. Then, in a dramatic voice, “Bad luck, loss, death, and unpleasant catastrophic change.” Caroline shook her head, clearly amused.

Bonnie didn’t seem to agree on the mood. “Grams used to warn me about listening to omens.” She sighed.

Elena shrugged, her attention turning back towards the crow. That thing could probably eat a stray cat if it wanted too, she thought darkly. A vibrate of her phone had her checking her snapchat, the little red square appearing next to Pretty Cave Man. Tapping it open, a zoomed in photo of their table and her looking outside had her eyes searching for the sniper.

Elena caught Stefan’s eye and waved back at his amusement. He was sitting with Matt Donavon, Tyler Lockwood, and few other basketball players, but that was all she got to notice before Bonnie started nudging her relentlessly.

“He’s hot.” Bonnie cooed. Caroline rolled her eyes, settling back with the rest of her lunch, her phone propped against her water bottle, and an earbud in one ear. She was probably watching another college volleyball match online. “I’m sensing Seattle.”

“Maine.” Elena corrected.

“And that he plays the guitar.”

“You’re really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, aren’t you?”

“Pretty much.”

\--

Before the girls left for next period, Elena turned back again towards the window, unsurprised to find the crow gone. She idly wondered if it was going to stick around. “Hey, I’ll meet you there I’m gonna go check something.”

Conveniently, the door to outside the small courtyard was next to their table, and after propping open the door with a brick Elena gathered the scrunchie from her hair. In one of the holes in the metal picnic table that the crow was on, she recalled stories of people befriending crows with gifts as she wedged her bright orange scrunchie in. It was odd, but something about the crow made her sad. Didn’t crows normally travel in groups?

“This is for you, bird.” She muttered, smoothing down her hair. “I hope you get it before some kid steals it.”

Maybe it was the meds, or her overall mental state, but Elena hoped that the crow would come back.

The rest of the day was full of sneaky photos between Elena and Stefan. Occasional glimpses in the hallway, up close shots of the other’s face in rapid snap-and-runs, and then questioning motives of the weirdly passive-aggressive history teacher, Mr. Tanner. She felt like she was in an odd alternate reality where, for once in the past six-months, Elena Gilbert was smiling and laughing. It was something genuine that herself had forgotten. Not just some formality or something expected, but some raw emotion that had her hands clammy and her heart beating a mile a minute.

When she finally was at her car at the end of the day, ready to go pick up Margy from Miss Lucy’s, Stefan was leaning against his polished red Porsche. Boldly, as was her mindset of the day, she sauntered towards him.

“What do you think?” She asked, “First day not too terrible?” An extra notebook was clutched to her chest, a white backpack weighing her down.

Stefan idly scratched at his hairline, a glinting and obnoxious silver and blue ring glinting in the evening sunlight. “Other than Mr. Tanner being the biggest _something,”_ Elena snorted, “Nah, it wasn’t too bad.”

Checking the time, really, she would love to get to know him more but, “Hey, I’ve got to grab my sister but see you Monday?”

\--

That night, Elena had the strangest of dreams.

It was evening, probably around 9 or so when night was starting to set in. She was in the cemetery all alone and an odd fog was rolling in around her ankles. She was walking, she thought towards her parents’ graves, but instead to the older monuments that were concrete statues and mausoleums. For some reason, she needed to stop at one of the mausoleums. Its triangle roof pointed towards a full moon, the only light in this odd dreamscape.

A lean man sat at the base of this particular one, dark jeans ripped from hard use and a loose, stained long sleeve adorning him. He had long hair, more so it seemed from forgetting a hair cut or two versus being on purpose and very, very dark eyelashes that shadowed a pale-downward face.

Being her dream, she knelt in front of him. She was wearing a navy-blue summer dress she oddly remarked. This pale, somber man had an open hand in which a bright orange scrunchie lay.

“Thank you.” He whispered. His voice soft and disbelief heavy in his tone.

“Are you the crow?” She casually remarked, falling on her bottom onto what she thought would’ve been damp leaves but instead felt like nothing at all. That would explain the hair color, dark like a crow’s feathers.

His eyes didn’t move from the scrunchie. His form didn’t twitch, it was like he didn’t breathe. Slowly, his fingers curling around the object with a care given to very young or very fragile, he let out a slow exhale.

“Why aren’t you scared?” He inquired, his eyebrows furrowed, and his mouth quirked.

“Why would I be?” She thought, but really it was a dream, so she said it out loud too, then continued, “It’s my dream after all.” She guided her right hand under his angular chin, lifting it up so she could better see him. “That’s better.” Elena smiled.

He continued his stand still. “Why is that so?” He breathed, large eyes finding her face and never leaving it.

“Eyes are windows.” She remarked. “And I’ve always wondered how glimmering sun-lit seas could hide behind such frail things such as glass.” She was reminded of the Looking-Glass, a short story her mother had read her long ago. “Which Dreamed It?” Elena remarked. Surely, he should understand the question, even though now his windows held confusion and humor.

“What do you mean?” He asked in amusement. His hand cradling the one that had held up his chin.

“I mean, Crow, if this is your dream or mine? Because I don’t remember ever roaming this part of the cemetery or why a beautifully tragic man like yourself would be on my mind?”

His eyes flickered, those trapped sun-lit seas, searching her own as an incessant beeping started to arise from behind the forgotten tombs. “You’re awfully observant for someone sleeping.” He offered, returning her hand to her. “And it seems you need to wake up.”


End file.
